Wallace sends Bobcats to franchise record in wins

Wallace returned from a one-game absence to lead the Bobcats to
a 101-87 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

With the win. the Bobcats set franchise highs in home wins (17)
and overall wins (27).

"It's great for us and shows improvement," Wallace said. "We
look back at the games that we could have won and let slip. If
we had won those games or closed out the ones we had we could
easily be sitting here talking about the playoffs positions, so
we just want to finish off strong and have some momentum going
into next year."

Despite missing the Bobcats' last game due to severe
dehydration, Wallace did not miss a beat in his return,
collecting 31 points, nine rebounds, four steals, and four
blocked shots. The 6-7 forward hit 12-of-16 shots from the
field.

"Gerald plays extremely hard," Atlanta forward Marvin Williams
said. "I've been able to see how hard he plays every night. He's
athletic, plus he's scoring the ball a lot more this year. He
is definitely a big piece to that team's success."

After Atlanta pulled to within 51-50, Wallace helped Charlotte
pull away with 11 points in the pivotal third quarter to
establish a 75-65 lead entering the fourth. The Hawks would get
no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Josh Smith turned in his fourth 20-point performance over the
last five games, registering 25 points to go along with 15
rebounds and six blocks. He now leads the league in total
blocked shots.

Emeka Okafor, who missed 15 games with a strained left calf
injury, returned and finished with nine points, seven rebounds
and three blocks for Charlotte, which has won the season series
against Atlanta in each of the three years the franchise has
existed. It has won nine of the 12 all-time meetings.

"At one time we thought we were looking in the mirror," Hawks
coach Mike Woodson said. "We play so close and so competitive,
but they take it a step forward in terms of how they play
against us. That is disheartening because our guys were
considered a young team that plays hard, but the last couple of
games we haven't played that hard I don't think."

Charlotte snapped a two-game losing streak with the win while
Atlanta lost its fifth straight.